It will be observed that the proportion of strikers engaged in strikes due to the respective classes of causes varies materially from year to year. It has already been pointed out that in Great Britain a few large strikes, involving thousands of persons each, have, in almost every year, contributed largely to the total number of persons affected by labor disputes. The causes involved in these important strikes will accordingly have a very powerful influence upon the aggregate number of persons engaged in strikes for the respective causes.

Taking the figures for the 8 years together, it appears that no less than 71.5 per cent of the total number of persons affected by strikes and lockouts were affected by those in which the question of wages was the chief point at issue. It will be remembered that in the United States, taking the number of establishments as the basis for comparison, a little less than one-half of the total number of strikes from 1881 to 1900 appear to have been connected with disputes as to wages. On the other hand, the number of strikes in which the question of hours of labor was involved in Great Britain was very much less than in the United States. Only 3.4 per cent of the persons affected by strikes and lockouts in the former country had changes in the hours of labor as their object, while in the United States more than one-fourth of the total number of strikes involved this cause.

Strikes against the employment of nonunion men and other obnoxious persons, and strikes in favor of the employment of particular persons or classes, account for 3.2 per cent of the number of persons thrown out of employment by strikes and lockouts in Great Britain from 1893 to 1900. During the years from 1881 to 1900, 6.3 per cent of the number of establishments affected by strikes in the United States were affected by strikes involving this class of causes. Strikes for this cause, however, are apt to be relatively small, so that the proportion of strikers having this object may be somewhat less in the United States than the proportion of establishments.

The group of causes summarized under the head of working rules in the British statistics covers, roughly, besides most of those classed in the American tables under the heading "working rules and conditions," also the 3 groups in the American statistics-time and method of payment, fines, etc., regarding apprentices, and regarding machinery. One-eighth of the total number of persons affected by strikes in Great Britain sought changes in their working rules, while in the United States the 4 groups of causes which have been enumerated account for 10.1 per cent of strikes.

Strikes involving the principles of unionism, as classified by the British Government, correspond fairly well to strikes for recognition of the union. In Great Britain, 4.2 per cent of the persons affected by labor disputes were involved in strikes and lockouts having this for a cause. In the United States the corresponding figure is 6.4 per cent. The number of sympathetic disputes in Great Britain was not formerly reported separately, but during the last few years covered by available statistics this cause is distinguished from the others. It appears that in 1896 somewhat over 4 per cent of the total number of persons affected were engaged in sympathetic disputes; in 1897 the proportion was about 2 per cent, while in 1898 the number was so small as to be insignificant. These disputes are apparently, therefore, less common in Great Britain than they have become in more recent years in the United States.

2. France. The report of the French Labor Department regarding strikes for the year 1899 includes a summary table showing the number of strikes in which different classes of causes appeared during the years 1890 to 1899. Just as has been done in the analysis of corresponding figures for the United States, each separate demand in connection with a strike involving more than one object has been tabulated. The table shows the number of strikes in which each respective group of causes came forward, as well as the number of strikers who sought each group of objects, these figures exceeding the number of strikes and of strikers themselves because many disputes involve two or more causes.

1 Statistique des Grèves, 1899, p. 294.

From this table it will be seen that in France strikers sought increase of wages in 37.3 per cent of the cases in which they struck. This is a somewhat smaller percentage than is shown by the statistics of the United States as regards establishments, but it may readily happen that the different bases of the statistics account for this difference. The proportion of strikers in France who resisted reduction of wages is also lower than the proportion of establishments in the United States in which this question was at issue; altogether only a little more than two-fifths of strikers in France made demands regarding the rate of wages. On the other hand, it is noticeable that the proportion of strikes regarding methods of paying wages or of estimating them is very high, no less than 13.6 per cent of all strikers having this object. Moreover, the 3 groups of causes which follow this group in the above table, those regarding the question of piecework, regarding the suppression or reduction of fines and deductions from wages, and regarding deductions for insurance and benefit funds, are all closely related to the previous group, having largely to do with the methods of determining the actual compensation of the employees. In the American statistics all causes of strikes of this character have been grouped together, and they amount to only 5.3 per cent of the entire number of strikes as measured by establishments. If we group the 4 classes of causes enumerated in France we find that no less than 24.2 per cent of all strikers struck for objects of this sort.

Strikes regarding the hours of labor are apparently less numerous in France than in the United States, only 9.7 per cent of all strikers making demands on this subject, while more than one-fourth of all establishments in the United States were affected by strikes regarding hours. The proportion of strikers seeking to exclude nonunion men and obnoxious foremen and others is 5.5 per cent, very nearly the same in France as in the United States. On the other hand, strikes seeking the reinstatement or discharge of workingmen are especially numerous in France, no less than 4.6 per cent of all strikers making demands of this sort. As in the United States, strikes regarding apprenticeship are relatively few in number.

3. Germany. The statistics published by the German Empire regarding strikes and lockouts in the year 1899 show that there were 2,101 distinct objects or demands in the 1,288 strikes occurring during that year, the individual strike being the only basis of comparison given. Of these demands, 1,126, or 53.6 per cent of the total number, had to do with the rate of wages. This proportion is somewhat greater than the proportion of establishments in the United States which were engaged in strikes involving this cause during the years 1881-1900. In 1899, in Germany, 379 strikes involved, singly or in connection with other causes, the demand for changes in the hours of labor, holidays, etc. These demands were 18 per cent of the entire number of demands, a smaller proportion than in the United States. Other causes were present in 596 strikes in Germany, or 28.4 per cent of the total number.

Of the 1,126 strikes regarding rate of wages, 820 were designed to secure an increase of wages, while only 67 were intended to prevent reduction, the remaining 239 having to do with other phases of the wage problem. Two hundred and

1Streiks und Aussperrungen im Jahre 1899, p. XV.

seventy-five of the 379 strikes regarding working time were designed to secure a reduction of hours, while 23 sought to do away with overtime. Sixty-four strikes sought changes in the methods of paying wages, 34 involved the object of securing the discharge of foremen, while 153 sought to secure the reinstatement of discharged employees. These last two causes appear relatively more frequently than in the United States.

4. Austria.-The Austrian statistics distinguish between the causes of strikes and the demands of employees. The difference is not a great one and gets its significance chiefly from the fact that a number of demands may be made at or after the beginning of a strike, although these are only incidental and do not represent the fundamental cause which led to the dispute. Disregarding accordingly the figures showing the demands of the employees, the following table may be presented, which gives the proportion of the total number of strikes which owed their origin to the enumerated classes of causes during the years 1894 to 1899:

Percentage of all strikes due to enumerated causes, Austria, 1894–1899.1

1Arbeitseinstellungen und Aussperrungen in Oesterreich, 1899, p. 20.

It will be observed that the Austrian statistics as to the causes of strikes are based upon the number of separate strikes and not upon the number of employees, or of establishments concerned in strikes, the latter being the basis in our own country. It appears from the above table that, taking the years 1894 to 1899 together, discontent with the existing rate of wages was the chief cause for the inauguration of 44.39 per cent of the total number of strikes, while resistance to reduction of wages occasioned 10.55 per cent of the total number.

These proportions exceed somewhat those for establishments in the United States from 1881 to 1900, the relative number of strikes designed to resist reduction of wages as compared with strikes designed to increase wages, being indeed considerably greater in Austria than in the United States. Discontent with the existing hours of labor occasioned 19.42 per cent of the entire number of strikes in Austria during the period in question. In addition, however, 2.4 per cent of the strikes sought to prevent proposed increase of the hours of labor. The total number of strikes in which the question of working time was involved was therefore 21.80 per cent of all, rather less than the proportion of establishments affected by strikes for this cause in the United States.

Strikes designed to secure the discharge of obnoxious employees, nonunion men, foremen, etc., or to insist upon the reinstatement of discharged employees, were especially numerous in Austria from 1894 to 1899. In general it is probable, however, that strikes of this class were smaller in size than those for the other causes. No less than 14.22 per cent of the total number of strikes involved questions relating to employees, while the strikes of this sort in the United States involved only 6.3 per cent of the entire number of establishments affected by strikes. Discontent with the working conditions and rules occasioned 6.14 per cent of the entire number of strikes in Austria from 1894 to 1899.

There is a considerable variation in the relative prominence of the different classes of causes of strikes from year to year, as shown by the above table. Nevertheless there are very few cases in which the difference is sufficiently great to change the order of importance from that of the average for the entire period.

5. Italy.1—The Italian statistics do not distinguish all the causes of strikes, but separate only the leading classes of causes, grouping all others under one head. Moreover a single cause is assigned for each strike, even though other subsidiary objects may be sought. The following table shows for the two periods, 1879-1891

1 Compiled from Statistica degli Scioperi, 1890-1899, and Bulletin of United States Department of Labor 1895-1901.

and 1892-1899, respectively, the proportion of the entire number of strikes in Italy for the respective classes of causes:

Percentage of strikes in Italy due to respective causes, 1879–1898.

From this table it appears that in each period about one-half of all strikes in Italy sought to secure higher wages, the proportion in the later period, 48 per cent, being slightly lower than in the earlier period, while the total number of strikes having wage questions at issue was 63 per cent in the earlier period and 60 per cent in the later period. It will be remembered that in the United States from 1881 to 1900 about one-half of the establishments affected by strikes were those in which wage questions were at stake. The proportion of strikes against reduction of wages in Italy was 11 per cent of the total number of strikes during the period 1879-1891 and 12 per cent of the entire number during the period from 1892 to 1899. This proportion is considerably higher than that in the United States.

It is noteworthy that the number of strikes in Italy which seek reduction in hours or which oppose increase in hours is very much less than in most other countries. During each period of the table, 7 per cent of the strikes in Italy sought reduction of hours and 2 per cent opposed an increase. It will be remembered that more than one-fourth of the strikes in the United States have had to do with the hours of labor. The difference is doubtless due to the inferior position of the working classes in Italy and the more backward state of the labor movement.

No marked difference, as between the earlier and the later period, in the proportion of strikes due to different classes of causes appears from the Italian statistics. Of course the variations in the number of strikers engaged in strikes for respective causes varies greatly from year to year, as will be seen from the following table showing the percentage of strikers having the respective objects during the years from 1895 to 1899:

Percentage of strikers concerned in strikes for respective causes in Italy, 1895–1899.

The marked fluctuations in the percentages shown in this table are largely explicable by the fact that a very large proportion of the entire number of strikers in each of the years 1896 and 1897 were concerned in the great strikes among the hat makers of Florence. The desire for increased wages was the cause of these strikes, so that the proportion of the entire number of strikers in Italy during these years who sought higher wages was enormously increased by these strikes alone.

CHAPTER III.

DURATION OF STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS AND TIME LOST BY THEM.

I. UNITED STATES.

1. Statistics for all trades. It is obviously difficult to determine as to any particular strike or lockout what is its actual duration. In a case where all the employees striking are afterwards reinstated at one time the duration of a strike is easy to determine; but when, as often happens, the strikers either surrender a few at a time or are gradually replaced by other men no particular point can be fixed for the end of the strike.

The statistics prepared by the Department of Labor show, for such establishments as were actually closed as the result of strikes, the length of time during which they were thus closed and the average number of days per year during which they were closed. Of course, labor disputes do not always result in the closing of an establishment. Of the establishments in which strikes occurred from 1881 to 1900, 65.73 per cent were closed on account of them, the proportion for lockouts being 71.95 per cent. It appears that for the 7 years from 1887 to June 30, 1894, the average number of days during which establishments closed by strikes were closed was 22.3 days. For the entire period from 1881 to 1900 the average number of days closed was 20.1. The average length of time for which establishments were closed on account of lockouts during the whole period was 52.4 days.

It is obvious that, generally speaking, the length of time during which establishments are closed as the result of strikes will be somewhat less than the length of time elapsing before all the strikers will return to work or, in case they do not return, until their places are filled by others. For the years 1881 to 1900 the report of the Department of Labor shows that the average number of days for each strike before the places of the strikers were filled or the strikers were reemployed was 23.8 days, while the average duration of lockouts was 97.1 days. The following table shows the average duration of strikes for each year from 1881 to 1900, as measured by the length of time before the places of strikers were filled by their reemployment or by the employment of others:

Duration of strikes and lockouts, January 1, 1881, to December 31, 1900.